Hip-Hippo-Ray - AHSC #312

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge! Today's card is sweet and simple and will be sent to one of my nieces for her 9th birthday at the end of the month.

While it may be hard to see from the top photo, I did add some dimension to the card front by using adhesive foam dots on both the back of the hippo circle and the sentiment banner.

This sweet little hippo is from a set I got from Itsy Bitsy when I was on their design team and I colored her up very simply using watercolor pencils in gray and pink. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but I also used a shimmer brush for the shadow under her feet.

The patterned papers are left over from a paper pack that my daughter left behind when she went to grad school several years ago...gotta use up that crafty stash, lol!

Until next time~

AHSC #308 - Rosy Thanks

Today's design team card for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge uses Sketch #308 and doesn't have much stamping on it but instead makes good use of this gorgeous patterned paper from Close To My Heart.

I love using textured cardstock when I want a solid color to make more of a statement, which I did here with the two shades of gray. 

The two lighter colors of the patterned paper are very subtle and hard to capture on camera, but in the top left corner is a thick, pale pink stripe and in the lower right is a light gray polkadot.

That's it for me until next time,

Hey Hedgie!

Today's design team post with Lemon Shortbread Digital Stamps using Hedgehog Leaves was a fun change of pace from summer themed cards! 

The background papers all came from Stampin' Up and the card base is a 5 x 7. Coloring was done using a mixture of Spectrum Noir markers with Prismacolor pencils over the top. Accents with a Star Dust gel pen finished everything off nicely. The light blue background was done with decorator chalk and distress ink along the edges.

Until next time~

Jolly Holiday

Today's design team project is another Christmas card with Happy Little Stampers and this month's optional theme is SANTA!

I did some simple layering and colored the image with decorator chalks on the red part of the hat and on the beard plus clear Wink of Stella pen on the trim parts of the hat.

Simple and sweet -that's all for me today~

Sunflower Sailor Girl

Today's design team project is with Lemon Shortbread and uses their Sailor Dress Sunflower Girl digi stamp along with the sketch from Your Next Stamp. I will also be entering her @ Dragonfly Dreams for "Summer", @ Stamping Sensations for "In My Garden", @ Crafty Hazelnut for "Using Patterned Papers" and @ Country View for "In The Summer Garden".

I colored her up using one of my new favorite combinations....first I laid down the basic colors using my Spectrum Noir markers and then add the shading and details using colored pencils. I coated the "lovely" sentiment die with Glossy Accents to get that gorgeous dimension and shine.

  The patterned papers are all older- came from my stash that goes back about 10 years or so -and the banner tails are super simple to make using the Triple Banner Punch from Stampin' Up. The small white layer was run through an embossing folder and some giant sequins added the finishing touch.

Until next time~

Bridal Congrats

Today's design team project for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge is a bridal shower card for my niece who is getting married in October. I will also be entering it @ Angie's Digital Stamps for "Anything Goes -BINGO" , @ heARTful Stamping Challenge for "Anything Goes + a stamp" and @ 613 Avenue Create for "Anything Goes + Button and Bows". 

I used the "Ribbon/Twine - Glitter - Embossing" diagonal row, as the dress and sentiment are embossed with black holographic embossing powder...the dress is colored with clear Wink of Stella  glitter pen and then I added the blue bow.

A touch of patterned paper on the inside carries over the theme from the front.

After die-cutting the main image with the pierced rectangle, I added the subtle touch of some pale blue chalk all around the dress image and sentiment stamp.

Until next time~

Mermazing Waves

Today's design team project is a 5 x 7 size card with Lemon Shortbread digital stamps and uses Mermaid Waving along with alot of die cuts and even some dry embossing!

I will also be entering her @ Di's Digi Challenge for "Summer Fun", @ Allsorts Challenge for "Use at Least 2 Dies", @ Dragonfly Dreams for "Anything Goes", @ Crafting From the Heart for "Anything Goes" and @ My Creative Scoop for "Color Inspiration Link Up #35".

I first colored her up with my Spectrum Noir markers and then did some layering over top with colored pencils. I highlighted her jewelry with a sparkly gel pen and added some shimmer over her tail and hair with a Wink of Stella clear marker.

I used a wave embossing folder on two different colors of jade cardstock, sanded it and then fussy cut around the edges. I die cut all the tropical plants from Spellbinders to resemble under the sea plants to coordinate with the beautiful patterned paper I found in my stash and layered everything on.

Until next time~

My Spring Coffee Lover's Blog Hop Entry #2

Today's second design team project is with Craftin' Desert Divas and is my first attempt at an "Impossible Card". There was a great tutorial over on Split Coast Stampers this week that finally convinced me to give it a shot, since it folds flat for mailing. The fold is actually much more simple than it looks! 

I will also be submitting this as my second entry over at the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop and joining in once again with the Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge. 

I used a new digital stamp from the CDD shop called "Flamingo Coffee Mug" along with the sentiment from the "Simply Said" stamp set.

Coloring was done using water color pencils and a water pen. Sequins and sparkle drops made the perfect accents to the pattern papers I found in my stash from Creative Memories.

Have a great weekend ~until next time~